Lateef Kayode knocked former world title challenger Matt Godfrey on his way to a ten round unanimous decision at the Chumash Resort in Santa Ynez, CA.
Kayode dropped Godfrey with a hard right in the first frame. That seemed to set the tine for the remaining nine rounds.
Kayode, 199 1/2 lbs of Lago, Nigeria is now 17-0 and won by scores of 98-90; 97-90 and 98-89. Godfrey, 200 lbs of Providence, RI is ow 20-3
With Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach in his corner, Kayode has officially “graduated” from ShoBox, according to ShoBox color commentator and boxing expert Steve Farhood. “Kayode is what he is,” Farhood said. “Boxers are always going to give him trouble, but he graduated tonight. And now he can aim for bigger things than ShoBox, which is a compliment.”
Kayode, of Hollywood, Calif., by way of Lagos, Nigeria, knocked Godfrey to the floor in rounds one, five and nine with a devastating display of body shots and power punches to the head of Godfrey. “I thought we would finish (Godfey) off earlier, but he took some good shots,” Roach said. “It’s OK we went the distance. (Kayode) needs rounds. Overall I thought it was a good performance.”
Added Kayode, who won for the fifth time at Chumash and the third time in a row: “We said we were going to cut off the ring and that’s what we did. People here know what I can do now. They’ve seen what I can do. Now it’s on to bigger things.”
Chirs Avalos used two early knockdowns to help catapult him to ten round unanimous decision over Khabir Suleymanov in a Super Bantamweight bout.
Avalos dropped Suleymanov in round one from a good left hand. Sulemanov rebounded to have a decent second round. That would not last as Avalos landed a hard right hand that sent Suleymanov to the canvas. Avalos was deducted a point as Suleymanov bounced up almost as soon as he went down and Avalos continued to land shots and the point was taken.
Over the course of the fight, Avalos was consistent with both hands and every now and again would get hit by a shot from Suleymanov.
Avalos, 120 lbs of Albuquerque, NM won by scores of 95-92; 97-90 and 96-91 and is now 19-1. Suleymanov, 120 lbs of Hollywood, FL is now 11-1.
He came at me with exactly what I expected,” said Avalos, who bloodied Suleymanov’s nose. “But we stuck with our game plan and it worked. I hurt him with my straight right several times.”
What’s next for Avalos, who suffered his first loss on ShoBox last August? “Whoever wants it,” he said. “Whoever wants it.”
“He didn’t hurt me,” Suleymanov said afterward. “I feel fine.”
Art Hovhannisyan scored four knockdowns en route to a sixth round stoppage over Archie Ray Marquez in a scheduled eight round Lightweight bout featuring undefeated fighters.
Hovhannisyan dropped Marquez with a left hook in round two and right hands in round’s tthree and ive. Hovhannisyan dominated the fight and landed a crunching right that was followed by a thudding left that slumped Marquez to the canvas and the fight was stopped at 1:03 of round six.
Hovhannisyan, 133 lbs of Glendale, CA is now 14-0-1 with eight knockouts. Marquez, 133 lbs of Albuquerque, NM is now 11-1-1.
“I was just very confident I would win this fight,” said Hovhannisyan, of Glendale, Calif. “He’s good and he has speed but I never thought I’d lose. He’s undefeated but so am I. I’m ready now for any fight. I’m ready for anyone.”
Added Farhood: “Hovhannisyan fought a very smart fight tonight. He sucked Marquez in and he drew him right into his web.”
